Animal
by Touga of the Wind
Summary: Sakura knew that going through there was a bad idea. Now here they are with the most powerful clan in the nations and the leader has his eye on her. Kami help her. Rating may change later on
1. Chapter 1

I know I know, I should not be uploading any more stories until I finished my others, but this was lying around so might as well publish it. I do not have internet any more, so I go to the library now. But you know the saying, "If it's free, it's for me." Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and I'll update my other stories later on. K?

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I don't own anything, just using the character for my pleasure.

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CHAPTER ONE: HERE WE GO AGAIN, WE'RE SICK LIKE ANIMALS

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Sakura willed her nerves to be calm; now was not the time to freak out. Displaying any sort of feebleness would not be promising under any situation. They could smell fear for all she knew and would take action just to humiliate them further. She'd be damned if she gave them the satisfaction. They had done nothing wrong, damn it. They should not fell any hint of shame or guilt at all. This was supposed to be a simple task, a mission of some sort... risking their lives in for the welfares of others. Well, that was not true; it was more them risking their lives in order to for her teammate to salvage a bond. It was a selfish mission really, but she didn't mind it at all. He deserved to be selfish every once in a while. He sacrificed so much for everyone; it was high time he was entitled to this one thing.

He deserved closure.

But that didn't help with the situation they were in now. How the hell could they have known a fucking monsoon would strike during the night? Her team had no clue of how to foresee the wayward weather of the area. Sakura gritted her teeth. This is why she hated the Land of Rain with a passion. She knew they should have just passed around and gone through the Village of Mist, but no, her teammates wanted take a "shortcut" through Rain. And being the idiot that she was, she agreed to their stupidity.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

With the ocean so near the landscape they were crossing, they should have known a monsoon was possible. Her team had been forced to find shelter and it had took hours before they'd found any kind of decent protection. With the rain pouring from the heavens mercilessly and the inhuman gust of fast traveling wind, it was impossible to know where they were going. By then, it was wholly too late. They had gone too far inland, going into territory they should be avoided at all costs.

She should have known they were headed down a path that would lead to their demise. She should have calculated that their shortcut was dangerously close to that area and it was inevitable that they would send people out to scope out any threat. Now, her small group found itself in the hands of the strongest clan out of all the nations.

She'd tested the chains in front of her while they were ushered into the main city of Rain and escorted to the organization's stronghold. She realized with dread they were strengthened with chakra. Shit, she couldn't break out of them. There was no other option but to attempt to talk her team out of this situation. Her other two teammates were useless to her seeing how they had no people skills what so ever. One was insensitive while the other would get them killed instead of saving them. Yes, she was their best bet.

After walking through the night, they were steered into the main hall of some sort of palace, not allowed any sort of break. The pink haired girl's optimisms fell when she entered a grand hall, filled with shinobi who looked just as menacing as the ones in their unprepared welcome party. The news of their imprisonment must have spread fast. The throng of ninja parted for the shinobi that led them as they moved to the front of the room. Sakura could make out a seven thrones, each different from the last. However, the middle throne sat higher than the rest.

'It must be for the High King'

The thrones were empty at the moment but she had no doubt the Princes and High King would be gracing them with their presences. She had heard rumors about the Akatsuki. Made up of with the seven most powerful men of the nations and formed a nation with renegade shinobi as citizens. In just twenty years, the Land of Rain was a consider one of the power nations. But it came to no surprise to Sakura, after all these men were demons, it was expected of them.

Taunts were thrown at Sakura, but she ignored them. However, she could tell Naruto wasn't so tolerant of their jeers at her than she was. She heard Naruto hiss through his teeth in response, eye flickering crimson. She was sure the fox demon was itching to Rasengan their asses to Suna. Unfortunately, once they discovered what he was, they immediately put Naruto with extra enforcements just in case.

Sai, behind her to the left, was taking this unusually well. He had that fake smile plastered on his face and humming a cheery tune. Normally, he would have made some crude remark at one of the ninja or at least thrown an insult or two at the crowd by know. This made Sakura suspect he had something up his sleeve. The last thing she needed was for him to say something caustic and knowing Naruto, he would join in and that would just cause a bloodbath, with them as the victims. Sai always had a knack of pissing people off when he opened his mouth. One inappropriate remark out of him and the pink haired girl knew their heads would end up rolling and bodies drained. She turned to pin him with a warning look.

Sai merely smiled at her and looked forward.

Damn it all.

They stopped when they were a few feet before the thrones. Pushing them onward abruptly, they waited for the Doyens and High King's arrival. Sakura was sure the shinobi would love to kill them if the sound trashing they got from them was any clue. Her lips twisted up into a sardonic smile. That didn't mean they stood there. She enjoyed the pained screams the men let out as they pummeled them into oblivion. However, as much as they put up a fight, they were outnumbered. In the end, there just had been too many assailants. They were just lucky they hadn't been killed on the spot.

The Akatsuki was notorious for being merciless to any suspicious people. And boy, were they suspicious. An aggressive fox demon, a bad mouthed monk, and a pink-haired human girl with inhuman strength. Now all they need was a flying tiger that breathed fire and they were set to go.

Let the Fates have mercy on their souls.

The sound of a door opening to the left was followed by the noise of shuffling feet. Sakura looked up to see a group of shinobi, five of them, coming decidedly their way. By looking at them, she could tell they high ranking officials of some sort. They held themselves differently from the rest; they had a certain air of confidence to them than the others. She was slightly surprised to find a woman with blue hair amongst them. The group arranged themselves round the thrones, each one stood beside a throne. The last one, a monster of a man, with blue skin and looked to be a water demon stood by the High King's throne.

'He must be the Head General. He certainly fits the part.' Sakura mused to herself as she eyed the demon in front of her.

Her exterior facade remained the same as she proceeded to survey his clothing as well as that of the others who had entered with him. Each one sported a black cloak with red clouds, the symbol of the Akatsuki; however, they were altered to suit the needs of the wearer. The woman had hers form fitted, like that of a waist coat and the water demon had his like gi. One didn't even wear a cloak and was shirtless while another with some sort of mask had long sleeves that went past his hands.

"What kind of freaks are these people?" Naruto muttered under his breath. Sakura shot him a glare to shut him up. Naruto gulped nervously at the deadly aura radiating off of her and nodded.

Closing her emerald eyes for a moment, she sent out a prayer to whatever deity was listening at the moment. She wasn't much of a holy person, but right now, she needed all the help she could get if they were going to get out of this in one piece. By the time she was done, the door to their left opened again and the crowd behind them bowed in respect to the newcomers.

The pink haired girl gaped. She couldn't help herself.

If a person would to ask her how she thought the Doyens and High King looked like, she would have replied like anyone would: they were old men who were wise beyond human years and more powerful than any immortal. She would have said they would be bald with long, white beards.

She never would have expected them to look like this.

They were beautiful. That was the only word to describe them. No, not quite. Beautiful and deadly; that suited them perfectly. She was an idiot to not realize demons were immortal; therefore time did not age them. To make matters worse, she should have known they were going to be attractive, I mean, she's a teammate to a demon for Kami's sake! Why the hell would they be shriveled or bald?

Her perfect picture of them blew up just like her brain did at the sight of them.

There were four of them. A man with tousled red hair and bored eyes walked to the throne made up of wood on the far right and sat down. He let out a tired sigh and cradled his head with the palm of his hand while a…girl sat down next to him on a throne with clay birds seated on the top. Was that a girl? With the long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, she couldn't tell. She shrugged and returned her gaze onto the next one.

He was the most bizarre out of the others, with his shocking orange hair and piercings decorating his face like a pushpin and ringed violet eyes. He took a seat on the throne consisted of metal, bedside the High King's throne. The last one she could not tell how he looked like with a hood casting a shadow across his face. All Sakura could see was two luminous green eyes.

Though they were otherworldly in their appearance, these were not their true forms; they were just handsome bodies that attracted souls to them. That's how they caught their prey, that's how they survived. They could choose any they want. The possibilities were endless. She knows this not from knowledge, none of what she knew of their forms can come from books, but from experience. Naruto tends to shape shift into a woman to mess with human men for fun.

She sighed and looked at the empty throne. It was simple enough, with its ebony wood and encrusted with jewels on the headboard. Suddenly, a surge of chakra filled the room, making her take a deep breath and bend her head down. It was overwhelming, like it was trying to swallow her whole. Naruto hissed and Sai turned to look up at the empty throne with narrowed eyes. It seemed the High King has arrived.

Sakura composed herself once more and met the eyes of the King and for the life of her; she couldn't pry her eyes away.

The piercing shade of crimson of his irises was unreal. It was impossible for someone to naturally possess such an eye color. They were the exact same hue of fresh blood. It was impossible to see anything beyond his expressionless face. The black of his hair and pale complexion of his skin, she associated immediately with death. There was absolutely no softness about him. The man staring back at Sakura made her shiver. However, when she looked closer at his eyes, she nearly gasped.

He possessed the Sharigan.

She only knew one other person with it.

Naruto sucked in his breath and looked like he'd seen a ghost. She felt bad for the young man beside her. He resembled Sasuke so much that it must have unraveled so many unwanted memories for the blonde and he seemed to be having a hard time trying to stop himself from breaking down.

Sakura returned her gaze to the Doyens and hoped at least one of them would be reasonable. The red head looked like he would listen. She almost laughed at the ludicrousness of her train of thought. Here she was, making wild deductions over the character of people who would most likely have her soul for dinner. Instead of having delusional thoughts, she should be thinking of what the hell she was going to say when the time came to state their defense.

She shook her head and bowed, just like everyone else was doing. Her companions caught on quickly and did the same, paying their respects to the leaders. The High King made his way gracefully towards the elevated throne and took his seat. Sakura closed her eyes, trying to gather her wits and when she opened them once more, she found the High King staring at her with narrowed eyes.

Inwardly, she was giving him a death glare that even Sasuke would be pissing his pants from. If he thought she was some kind of weak, passive female who would yield at a man's slightest threat, he was sorely mistaken. She didn't care if he ended up torturing her with his Sharigan, which she was sure he could do so quite well; she would never give him the pleasure of seeing her fear.

She could tell from the way he carried himself, he was a skilled leader, probably hundreds of years of experience. People knew he was a force to be reckoned with, hell, he even knew it. He must have been in more battles than Naruto's record of how much ramen he eats. And boy, does Naruto love his ramen.

Once more, she knew it was going to be problematic to get out of the dilemma they were in. The room had gone suddenly quiet and Sakura could feel the weight of the High King's powerful aura more clearly. He lifted his arm and bade the water demon beside him to speak.

"Kisame, report," he said in a deep, smooth voice.

"High King Itachi," the man replied, "We have brought before you the trespassers we found on the southern side. My men came upon them during the night as they tried to sneak into our territory."

"Spies, spies! Kill them!" yelled the crowd behind them at the man's words.

Sakura could almost hear Naruto grinding her teeth.

The man continued speaking. "They fought but they offered no real challenge."

They glared at the man. That was a bunch of bull. They easily took down half of his squad.

"They came here planning an attack! Let's burn them alive!"

The High King raised his hand, silencing the crowd.

"You will have only one chance to speak. Please make good use of it," he said.

The time was upon them. It was now or never.

Sakura stepped forward and opened her mouth when Sai beat her to the punch.

"Your Highness, there's seems to be some mistake. We are just on a mission to retrieve a mission teammate of ours and the quickest way to our destination was through Rain. The young woman is a medic and my other companion is a fox demon that masters in combat. I myself am a monk and a temporary teammate to these two."

Sakura nearly sighed in relief from Sai's rational words. He didn't say anything insulting. Miracles do happen.

Then the shirtless, silver-haired man's voice cut through the room.

"A monk, huh? Why the fuck are you traveling with them? I mean, you should be worshipping to your God in some shrine, not getting involved with these bitches. Some holy man you are."

Sai's lips twitched.

"And you are?"

"Hidan," the man grinned," the most bad assed fighter in Akatsuki."

Sai smile sweetly at Hidan.

Sakura's heart plummeted at the sight.

"Well then Hidan, I suggest you shut that disgusting mouth up before I cast you way to the depths of Hell where you belong."

"What did you say?" Hidan screeched.

Sakura imagined them dying.

Them hanging.

Just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse, it does.

"Did you not quite hear that? You must excuse me, I did not know you were deaf as well as idiotic. And by the way you screamed I only conclude you must have no balls."

No, scratch that.

Them getting their throats slit.

"I'll kill you mother-fucker!"

"Enough." His voice wasn't loud yet it seemed to vibrate all around the room, silencing them. He glared at Hidan and then at Sai, who wisely shut his mouth. His eyes scanned her teammates then settled on her.

"You girl, I suggest you fix your companion's errors if you wish to see the light if day once more. This is your only chance."

Sakura felt a twinge of annoyance, but pushed it aside for the time being.

"As my friend was saying, we are on a mission. We were on our way to meet up with a lead that would tell us the whereabouts of our missing teammate when a monsoon struck our camp last night and we were forced to seek shelter. Unfortunately, we got lost among the wind and rain and stumbled into your land unintentionally."

"You're the medic, as I recall?" he inquired. "I heard from one of my emissaries that you knocked out one of my most stout combatants with a single blow. Isn't that right, Shisui?"

A slim man that resembled the High King stepped forward somewhat unsteadily. He had been the only one thoughtless enough to try and go up against Sakura one on one. His arrogance lost him the match and caused him a devastating punch to the right side of his skull. It wasn't enough to kill him, that hadn't been her intent and doubted it would have killed him; even though the demon was rash, he was powerful and she would have to strengthen her punch if she wanted to kill him. I merely made him sleep for a couple of hours. His comrades had been forced to carry the man as they made their way back towards the base.

Shisui smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "What can I say? The woman packs one hell of a punch."

Itachi turned to look at Sakura with an interrogative look.

The pink haired simply shrugged. "I said I was a medic, I didn't say I was defenseless."

This answer brought a chuckle from the water demon Kisame.

"What proof do you have that you are on a mission?" the red haired man asked.

"We don't have any proof. Our things got carried away when the monsoon hit," Naruto replied bitterly and stared at them, "Look; we're not here to spy on you. We just want to find our teammate."

"Why are you so intent on finding your friend?" Kisame inquired.

"He's more than a friend to us-to me. He's my brother," Naruto said, his blue eyes shining with warmth and determination," and as his family, we need to save him."

"From who?"

"From himself."

Kisame looked at Itachi and shrugged. "Well, it's your call."

Itachi surveyed the team.

"Here we have an idiotic fox, a little girl, and an unholy monk. You ask me to spare you, but you gave me no reason to. I do not know if you speak the truth or not and will not risk the safety of my people because of you."

Sakura grimaced and merely stared at the High King. It was understandable. It was a logical response. She would have done the same thing.

"What? Are you kidding me? We are going to die because we accidently went into your land?" Naruto exclaimed.

Itachi fixed him a glare. "There are no accidents in life, fox. Our kind knows this most of all."

"But I still haven't saved him!"

"Naruto," Sakura warned," stop this."

"Sakura, we're never going to see him. After three fucking years of searching for the bastard, it ends like this? Is this a way the gods mocking us?"

They started to drag them away, but Naruto continued on his tirade.

"Naruto." She pleaded with him, but he was too wrapped up in his realization listen to her. The men started to pull Naruto, who struggled. His eyed bled red and his fangs lengthened.

"Let me go bastards, I need to find him. I need to find Sasuke!"

The Doyens and High King were making their way to the exit when they heard him scream. Itachi froze at the sound of the name.

"Hold."

The guards immediately stopped and looked at the High King confusedly. Itachi flitted to them and stared at Naruto directly in the eyes.

"You know Sasuke? He's your missing teammate?"

"Ye-yeah…"

"Is this some sort of joke? Are you lying to save yourselves, because if you are, you chose the wrong way," Itachi said menacingly, his tomoes swirling in anger.

"We're not lying. Sasuke is our teammate, has been since we were children," Sakura answered seriously.

"Yeah! Ask us anything about him! We'll ace it! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed smugly.

Sai merely sighed and shook his head. "Believe it? Seriously? I thought we were passed this stage already."

"I have a quicker way. If what you say is true then you wouldn't mind if I see for myself."

Sakura lifted her chin at the challenge, her eyes hardening into stone.

"I understand."

Itachi smirked and activated his Mangekyou, wrapping Sakura into blackness.

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Well there you have it. Please Review~


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I'm not so happy about this chapter. The story is pretty old so I know my writing has grown and everytime I see this story, I want to change it. Oh well. I'm just going to edit it minimally.

Hope you guys enjoy it.

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CHAPTER TWO: WE PLAY PRENTEND, YOU'RE JUST A CANNIBAL

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The Mangekyō is supposed to be a device of torture, a cruel instrument that twists memories into nightmares and horror…yet…there was no pain to be felt, only a slight pressure in her head, like someone was probing through her mind. She was standing alone; blackness surrounded her as she looked at pictures, memories, floating around her.

'Is this another technique to the Mangekyō?'

'This isn't the Mangekyō.'

A figure suddenly appeared in front of her in a swirl of ravens.

'This is an entirely separate technique I designed.'

So it seemed the High King entered her mind. Sakura tensed at the threat, it was a natural reaction really; he was inside the most vulnerable part of her.

'This technique allows me to see memories.'

'Why didn't you use it before?'

Itachi had the nerve to smirk at her.

'I could have cared less about your lives, but now I find them interesting. Let us see what you say about Sasuke is true shall we?'

Itachi pointed a finger at her. Immense pressure enveloped her mind and all she could do was grit her teeth at the feeling. It was amazing how he could project so much power by just one finger.

'Do not try to fight it, it will only cause you pain.'

It seemed like an eternity as Itachi probed through her memories, then he selected one.

'No! Not that one! Stay away!'

Itachi fixed her a look and added more pressure and went back to examining the memory.

"_Let's go train! I bet I can beat you, teme!" challenged an exuberant Naruto, his finger pointing at a boy in black._

"_You're a hundred years too earlier to beat me, dobe."_

"_Well, you're a hundred years too late to keep up with me."_

_Onyx eyes glared at blue, electricity sparking between the rivals._

"_Loser."_

"_Asshole."_

"_Baka."_

"_That's it, let's go at it! Right here, right now!"_

"_I couldn't agree more."_

_Sakura stared at them in exasperation. They always do this and she always had to diffuse the situation. The two boys got into their stances and Sakura immediately got between them. She gathered chakra into her hands and pushed them apart. The boys skidded apart and stared at the girl in annoyance._

"_Now isn't the time to see whose dick is bigger than the other, we are here to train. As a team. Not the beat each other to a pulp. This is supposed to be a teambuilding workout and we are going to do it. Understand? Because if you don't, my fist will knock you into tomorrow, understand?" Sakura threatened. _

"_Ye-yeah, Sakura we understand."_

"_Hn."_

"_That's good. Now as a team, this should allow us to hone our skills together and work smoothly. We each complement one another, but we are at each other's throats all the time."_

"_So you want us to fight each other?" Sasuke asked._

"_Sort of. I want us to use our strength against one another. For example, me using taijutsu against you, since you're not as string in it as I am." _

"_I get it," he replied._

"_Alright! Let's get the show on the road!" Naruto yelled. _

_They trained together for hours. Sasuke was blocking swift kicks from Sakura when an explosion erupted. The ground gave way, causing Sakura to flip backwards until she stood by a disoriented Naruto. Sakura gave a pointed look at him but he raised his hands up._

"_It wasn't me, I swear."_

_A chill went through her spine. Something was off about this._

"_Where's Sasuke?" she asked._

_The smoke was settling down when she saw it. There was a man with long black hair and white skin standing not too far away from Sasuke. Sakura tensed up and glared at the figure; he was a powerful demon, she could tell by his stance. They were in danger and needed to get away, but it seemed the man had his eyes set on Sasuke. _

"_Naruto," Sakura let out in a low tone that left no room for agreement," get help."_

"_But-"_

"_He's a snake demon, Naruto. You know they can charm other demons. Go. Get. Help." She grounded out through her teeth._

_Naruto was shaken and pale but nodded and left swiftly._

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at the scene before her. If the man thought he could take her friend, he was dead wrong. With his now stretched out neck shooting towards Sasuke, the demon opened his fanged mouth. Sasuke seemed to have injured his legs and couldn't move away from the fast approaching threat. Sakura decided it was now or never to act. Before the man could sink his teeth into the boy, Sakura flashed-stepped in front and delivered a swift kick to the side of his head._

_The man hissed in pain and turned his beady yellow eyes towards her. "You dare interfere. I've waited years to get ahold of him and I will not be stopped by a mere brat."_

"_Like hell I'm letting you have Sasuke, demon," she bit out," if you want him, you got to through me."_

_The demon let out a maniacal laugh and charged at her. She knew she couldn't defeat him, but she prayed that she lasted until enforcements arrived. Sakura fought hard, but as the minutes went by and no sign of Naruto, her hope was falling. She was getting tired from go against such an enemy and with her chakra failing her, she was left no other choice but to use that technique._

_She dodged a punch from the man and went to slice her fingers vertically. With the blood flowing freely, she proceeded to evade his attacks and made a circle with the crimson substance around his body unknowingly. Once done, she made a series of attacks that forced the demon in the middle. Sakura took a deep breath and swiftly did numerous hand signs. Sasuke stared at her in disbelief. Surely she did not mean to use that technique; she hasn't properly mastered it yet, it would kill her._

_The circle began to glow and she started to chant._

"_What is this?" The snake demon exclaimed in surprised. _

_Sakura smirked. "It's an exorcism incantation of the highest level. It was forbidden for the sole purpose of being too treacherous and considered too immoral to use. And now, demon, I'm going to send you back to the depths of hell!"_

_The demon let out a pained scream as the light consumed his being. His flesh was ripped from the bone as his body was being dissolved by the hex. Bit by bit, the man was dying._

_Then it stopped. Smoke sizzled in the air from circle._

_Sakura eyes widened in horror as the smoke cleared to see the man with half of his face missing. His body was smoking from the rotting of the flesh and a horrid smell filled the air. His yellow eyes were slits as he smiled. It looked unnatural, that smile and Sakura had to force herself from not becoming sick right then and there from the sight. The man let out of crazed laugh. How did that not work? Why was he still alive? Sakura's knees buckled and she fell to the ground beside Sasuke. She could only stare at the man as he advanced towards them, his body regenerating._

"_My, my, that hurt quite a bit. If you were at full strength you might have actually done damage, but it takes more than some silly girl to defeat me. You're interesting though, my mind wanders what else you are capable of. Yes, I think I'll make you mine as well."_

_All she could see were those yellow eyes. He grabbed onto them and before he spirited them away, he smiled sickeningly._

"_My name is Orochimaru. Let's get along, shall we?"_

Sakura breathed heavily as she was transported back to the hall, her vision was a blur and she had to take gulps of air to try to calm her shakiness. That was a memory she wished that never had happened. All those months…all those fucking months…how she wished to forget them.

Itachi was composed, his expression impenetrable, yet she saw a shadow of worry before it was gone. "She is who she says she is," he announced and looked back to the captured team, "I apologize for the treatment but I'm afraid it couldn't be helped. There have recently been assassinations of high ranking officials. This caused some alarm in my kingdom."

"We understand," Sakura responded, breathing easily for the first time.

"Let them go." the High King exclaimed.

At the order, the men behind them stepped forward. The chains were unshackled and were move their hands freely in what seemed forever.

"May I have the names of your companions?" The Doyen with

"This is Uzamaki Naruto," Sakura answered, gesturing towards her left. "And the monk is Sai."

Both men inclined their heads in respect towards the Doyens and High King.

"Please accept my welcome, and all of those present heed my warning," Itachi said to the gathering. "These people have been raised to the rank of honored guests. They will receive the best hospitality for the length of their stay."

"The length of our stay?" Naruto blurted out. "I thought we'd be leaving already!" Throwing an irksome glance at Sakura, he was on the verge of throttling the next person who came within reach.

"That have may be so in a different situation, but as of right now, with the monsoon and assassinations, we closed our gates. This allows no one to neither go out nor come in until the case is resolved, yeah." The blonde Doyen retorted.

"Whoa! You're a guy? I thought you were a girl, with the long hair and all." Naruto exclaimed in amazement.

The blonde gritted his teeth and snarled. "I'm a hundred percent male asshole! I'm a Doyen! You should respect me, yeah!"

Sakura sighed. It was as if her teammates wanted to die. Just when she thought they were going to do fine, the idiot had to open his bug mouth and start another problem.

"I don't give a- OUCH!" Naruto started to say, only to be kicked on the shin by Sai in mid-sentence.

"We gratefully accept your hospitality, my lordships," Sakura said.

"At least one of us does…" Naruto mumbled under his breath as he rubbed his sore leg.

Sai kicked him again.

"Now," Itachi continued to say, "Since you are my personal guests, you will be given a personal chaperon from one of my Doyens."

Sakura was brusquely overwhelmed by dread.

"You will be strictly under their supervision when it comes to your safety. I advise you listen to their counsel and follow their orders when it is needed."

The feeling of trepidation came rising up for the soles of her feet and up her spine.

"They, in turn, will make sure you are provided with everything you need."

The color was draining from her appearance.

"Haruno Sakura, you come as first priority. I will personally look over you."

And there was simply no way Sakura could say no, not without starting a war. She going to ask if she could go with someone else, but the pointed look Itachi gave her, challenging her to ask, was enough to shut her up.

"Sasori," the High King said, speaking to the red headed Doyen. "Please take care of Sai-san."

The man looked like he could care less and simply nodded towards Sai and the boy had no choice but to go stand by his side.

"And finally Deidara," Itachi said to the man with a sly smile. "You will have the duty to take care of the fox demon."

"What?" The blondes yelled in unison.

Sakura almost snorted. Was it her or had the High King picked up on the upsetting emotions churning among her team and the Doyens and made them go with them just to be cruel?

"Fine! Whatever, you can come with me, but you're sleeping with the servants, yeah!"

"Like hell I am!"

This was going to a long stay.

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I know, I know "that's not how Sasuke went with Orochimaru!" But what can I say, I like a strong Sakura and this version is better for my story. And hey, that's why it's called "Fanfiction".

Anyways...REVIEW~


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, well here's chapter three. I really enjoyed writing this one. Oh! I want to think ALL who have reviewed and thought this was good. I really appreciate it! I got alot of awesome feedback (which made me feel all fluffy inside) Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do~

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CHAPTER THREE: YOU'RE JUST A CANNIBAL AND I'M AFRIAD I WON'T GET OUT ALIVE

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She knew that she was going to be guarded for her safety, she could deal with that. But when the High King proceeded to inform her she would be sleeping in his chambers, she only could gape like a fish out of water for a few seconds. She was going to stay in the same living space as the High King. This meant she was receiving the best protection she would get while under their hospitality. From their point of view, it was a singular honor. If she threw a tantrum over their sleeping arrangements, she would add insult to injury and would most likely get herself killed for her insolence. But apparently she was masochist.

"You're joking, right?" she'd replied, refusing to set her bag down on the floor of her new room.

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"But-but there's bound to be hundreds of rooms in this place!" She blustered out.

"All the more reason to keep you here. The closer you are to me, the safer. It's far too risky for you and the others to be by themselves. You will find a futon laid out for you in the adjoining room beside mine," He gestured to the doors to the left of his bed that lead to her quarters. He looked her over coolly, a smirk gracing his lips.

It seemed he delighted in provoking discomfort in others.

Sakura would not be bested by him if it was the last thing she did. She'd just have to deal with him accordingly and try the best she could to be civil.

She cleared her throat. "Thank you for your hospitality, your Highness."

"Call me Itachi."

"Itachi-sama."

"Just Itachi."

Sakura simply gave him a sweet smile that would make Sai proud.

"Alright, Itachi-sama it is."

A small smile appeared on Itachi's lips at her stubbornness.

"The washroom's at the back of my chambers," he kept saying. "A servant will help you with it. Now, I have duties to attend to." With that, he turned round and went out, shutting the door behind him.

There was something in his tone when he spoke to her that made her want her hand to come in contact with his face.

He was polite to her, but there was an undertone of…resentment? Anger? It was something she couldn't place, but in return, it caused her shackles to rise. But at the moment, Sakura had to push away her ire. The fact that they had just met each other and proven she was going to throttle him the next time he spoke to her with that tone again didn't sit well with her. It was unacceptable. She was supposed to be the civil one, the patient one, but that man washes away any trace of kindness from her. The best course to follow was to ignore him and stay out of his way as much as possible. Of course, living under the same roof and in close quarters with him wasn't going to make this easy.

But who ever said was life was ever easy?

Sakura was bored out of her mind. For the past two days, she had familiarized herself with every nook and cranny there was in the High King's private chambers. After the incident in the grand hall, she was escorted back here and was instructed by the High King himself that everything was off-limits and then proceeded to welcome her to his land. She merely gave him a civil smile. He was insufferable. He would converse with her with thinly veiled insults and remarks that left her wanting to crush that pretty face of his into the dirt. But she mustn't lose control. No, that's what he wanted her to do. She could see that. It was as if he was testing her, maybe checking to see if she was a worthy companion for Sasuke or something.

Sasuke. That was another topic that has been bothering her. They looked similar yet were so different. She couldn't decide how they were related by appearances. From what she had heard from the boy in question was that most of the Uchiha look alike since they inbred to keep their blood pure. He was slimmer than Sasuke and taller and had a hard edge that Sasuke did not possess. He knew Sasuke that much was for certain, but how? How were they related?

Sighing at what the following days would likely bring, she decided it was time she went out to look for her companions. She wouldn't be able to stay cooped up in the High King's chambers all day; she'd go crazy.

She found Sai with the so-called Sasori ten minutes later while in the halls. It had taken a bit of asking to find them but now that they were guests, the demons acted sociable enough. The red haired man was showing her friend around and Sakura didn't have any qualms with barging in and joining them. Sasori simply nodded at her presence, not asking any questions. He proceeded to continue with his explanations of the lay of the land.

"The kingdom extends to the beach on the northern border," he said, pointing at a large body of water some distance away. "This land is made up of the most fertile land in the region and contains many natural resources."

"I assume the kingdom has come so far because of this," Sai commented.

Sakura's eyes narrowed fractionally.

Sai was never pleasant to strangers, hell, it took months for Sakura and Naruto get him to cooperate with them. What the hell had she missed? She made a point to ask later.

"Yes, and with alliances with other nations, we have grown quite profusely," Sasori was saying," however, many feel us as a threat and would do anything to see the Akatsuki crumble."

"I see," Sai said. "And the assassinations? Are they the cause of such envy?"

"We believe so. The killings began months before; our parliamentarian was found dead. His head was cut off and body was hanging in the town square for all to see. They have killed five officials so far. The other Doyens and I are looking into the case personally."

"I assume the ones who entered before the High King at our, err... reception are the Doyens?" Sakura asked.

"Yes we are. We were chosen because of our skill in battle as well as for our ability to lead," Sasori said," The High King was chosen from a battle not too long ago. Previously, the High King was Pein, the man with orange hair."

"Really? If he was defeated, then why is he a Doyen?"

"Pein may have been beaten, but he harbors a rare bloodline limit that is invaluable to the High King as well as to the Akatsuki. It would be foolish to turn him away."

"There is no questioning the High King's power, but he seems to lack…people skills," Sakura said.

"Itachi isn't exactly sociable, most of us are not, but he does have great capacity to inspire his people. You will find they are steadfastly loyal to him."

Sakura eyed him, clearly unconvinced.

Sasori smile turned wry. "You will find that the history surrounding the High King's family is rather tragic. As you can see, there are very few of the Uchiha left in the world. Their demon lineage is one of the oldest and most sought out in the nations. Many started to war with them in order to obtain their power."

The pink haired girl was taken slightly aback by such an admission. Yet she was too polite to press the issue. She was an outsider, after all.

"The man I punched...Shisui, right? Is he related to the High King?" she asked, changing the topic slightly.

"Yes he is," the man replied. "He is the second cousin of Itachi as well as Tobi. He is the one with the mask."

The monk nodded. "And how long has Itachi-sama been High King?"

"He has been leading us for the past twenty years," Sasori replied. "Things were a lot more tempestuous when Pein was High King but that's a story for another time. I fear this is where I leave you for I have duties of my own to fulfill. Time is of the essence."

"Please, do not delay on our behalf," Sai said politely. "You've already shown me enough. I'll be able to guide Sakura around now."

"It was my pleasure," the Doyen said, bowing slightly. "Remember a curfew has been set for your protection. I will see you later then."

With that, he turned round and headed down a path leading back to the grand hall.

Sakura waved after him for a moment before pinning her friend with a keen look.

"And since when did you get so friendly with your Doyen?" she asked.

Sai had the audacity to look innocent. "Since I found out we share the same interests," he said.

"He does?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes well, he just so happens to enjoy art as much I do. I was painting when he came upon me and gave me some helpful advice about wood carving and sculpting that will be useful in the future. He's enjoyable enough once you get past his impatience. "

"This is so unfair. Why did you have to get the polite one while I'm stuck with the royal pain in the ass?"

"Itachi-sama seems civil."

"Yeah well, that's what I thought as well. That flew out the window when he took this tone with me that screams 'I hate you'. Kami, the man is excruciating."

Sai smirked smugly at her but sobered slightly at the harassed look on his friend's face. "Is he really so bad?"

"You have no idea," Sakura answered, a haunted look in her eyes.

"Tell me all about, then" Sai said, leading her by the arm. "But we really should go look for Naruto. I have no doubt in my mind that he's at odds with his escort. They're probably at each other throats by now."

The three of them spent the afternoon in companionship lounging around on a balcony. Sakura felt slightly better after listening to Naruto whine about his own situation. When they came upon the blondes, it was as if the room was the site of a battle. Furniture was overturned, the sofa was in pieces and there were burn marks, scratches, dents and blood on the walls. It was mayhem. They found Naruto, red eyed and hissing at one corner, while in the other corner was Deidara. He eyes turned all black and was growling at Naruto.

"Well, it seemed we came just in the nick of time" Sai said pleasantly, "Sakura, you get Naruto and I'll get the tranny."

It took about an hour to calm them down, but they managed. Sakura had to find some maids to fix the room up again and Sai snatched Naruto out of the room, all the while the blondes were throwing insults at one another. As they sat on the balcony while Naruto told the horror of living with that "gender-confused demon", Sakura felt sympathetic, but didn't envy his position. Even so, Sakura was relieved to find she wasn't the only one finding their stay in Rain troublesome.

They were called to dinner by a young man who summoned them to the Sasori's quarters. The Doyen welcomed them to his table and tried to make light conversation but the lines of worry on his face were evident. Sakura assured him they didn't need any kind of social diverting and asked what was bothering him. In the end, they discovered there had been another assassination attempt and was against their Healer, Konan.

"She's the blue haired woman you met before. She is also the mate of Pein. We were lucky that Pein sensed her danger and rushed in time to save her. The attack was meant to injure her in a way that would not allow her to heal herself and any lesser being would have died instantly."

"It seems that the assassinations are moving up ranks now," Sai mused.

"If you don't mind me asking, what sort of attack was this?" Sakura enquired.

"It appears that the assassin uses a demon sword to strike down his targets. He must be swift, using some sort of flash step to quickly end his prey and leave without being unnoticed by anyone."

By the time Sasori finished explaining the situation, night had fallen. Sakura made her way back to Itachi's chambers and she felt reluctant, to say the least. But Sasori had asked her to have patience with him; he had all but confessed he thought Itachi liked Sakura.

"From the way you say he's been acting towards you, I would assume you stirred some interest in him. We are creatures that have idle time on our hands and he has lived longer than most of us. He doesn't take much interest in people, you know, especially not when it comes to strangers."

From the way Sasori had phrased it, she was some sort of socializing exercise and that was the last thing she needed.

"I know he's difficult," he'd said, "but please try to bear with him. You'll find he's not half so bad once you look beyond his emotionlessness."

Sakura wanted to retort back that it wasn't so in her case, but reframed from doing so. It seemed the Doyen is fond of Itachi and it would be unwise to speak ill of him in front of the redhead. With that in mind, Sakura made her way back to her quarters.

Sliding open the door to the room, she found it surprisingly empty. She'd thought Itachi would've been back by now. He'd been out since the morning. After a few minutes, she heard sounds of water running and figured the man in question was taking a bath. Shrugging, she went inside her room and unfolded the futon that had been left for her and proceeded to get ready for bed.

Since the monsoon swept all her medical supplies away, it was a good idea to replenish her stash while she was here. She hated it when she didn't have her equipment, it make her edgy. She'd made a note of where the healer's room was located and planned to search out the woman tomorrow morning. Sakura only hoped the woman was well enough to help her out. She was about to climb into bed when she heard the washroom's doors slam open.

She forgot to shut her door behind her.

Damn it all.

When she turned around to close the door, her mind went blank.

The sight before was simply too much for her.

There stood Itachi in the doorway, almost totally naked except for a towel tied at the waist. From the way it was barely clinging to his frame, it was clear it would most likely fall at the slightest movement. He was still partially wet from his bath and his hair was dripping water. A lone droplet slid from his neck to his lithe frame, lower and lower until it disappeared into the towel.

Sakura raised her eyes to face a smirking Itachi.

After a couple of seconds of shock, Sakura cleared her throat and tried her best to convince herself that he was not any shape or form the best male specimen she had ever laid eyes on. And being a medic, she had seen _many_ fine male specimens. _Many_.

"What do you think you're doing?" she questioned.

The Itachi blinked at her. "What do you mean what am I doing?"

"You're naked." she said with all the dignity she could muster.

"I am not," he replied logically. "I had the decency to wrap a towel around me because you were here."

"Decency?" Sakura retorted back. "You call that decency?"

"Listen, girl," Itachi replied with a sarcastic tone. It was clear that this little episode was causing him great amounts of pleasure. "It's not my fault if you've never seen what a man's body looks like."

Her anger rose to the surface with vengeance. Her vision was clouded with red and all she wished in the world for was his head on a silver platter. "Listen here you arrogant bastard! I am a skilled medic! I've seen more men naked than you could count in a lifetime!"

"I agree, you must have," he replied mockingly and continued to jab at her. "And all of them were corpses you dissected."

"I've had my share of living men, Itachi-sama," she said coldly. That was a lie, but she'd be damned if she told him that.

"That may be so, but you're reaction to me suggests you've never seen any male of my caliber," he retorted.

Sakura pretended to act confused, scrunching up her brows.

"Why, I don't know what you mean, Itachi-sama. I don't see much at all."

His smirk faltered a little.

Sakura got up and smiled sweetly at him.

"Goodnight, Itachi-sama," she mocked and proceeded to slam the door in his face.

She went back to her futon and lay down. She turned on her back and breathed out heavily, the noises of the quiet night around her finally managed to calm down her ire enough for her to look at the situation rationally. He caught her off guard with the showing her a lot more of him she didn't ask for and sure, she was shocked but she felt she dealt with the situation accordingly. If he thought that she would behave like a school girl just because she saw some skin, he thought wrong. She's been around men all her life growing up and saw more than she wanted from her teammates in the years and surely she could handle this as well.

Maybe if she kept saying this, she'll believe it.

The next morning, Naruto couldn't help himself and laughed at Sakura's situation.

"It's no laughing matter!" Sakura exclaimed. It took several moments before he was able to sober up enough to speak. "It could be considered sexual harassment," Naruto said in mock seriousness.

"Of course it could be!" Sakura replied angrily, not taking note of the sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, at least you now know of his tendencies. You can be prepared next time," Sai said, not taking his eyes away from his sketchbook.

Naruto looked over at Sakura with a mischievous glint in his eye, a look that Sakura feared. "Even though some of them piss me off," he said casually," you gotta admit that their group does have some pretty hot guys."

"Naruto!"

"I couldn't agree more," Sai commented, finally looking up.

Sakura shot them an exasperated look. "Are you guys on their side now?"

Naruto shrugged and grinned. "I'm just saying, Sakura-chan. You know demons are very easy on the eyes when it comes to appearance. I'm just taking note of that fact."

"Here, here." Sai agreed and bluntly added," I would love to fuck the redhead."

"Sai!" she shrieked, a smile breaking across her face at the crudeness of his remark. It was no secret that demons did not distinguish between genders, rather look at the person's soul and decide to mate with them. Naruto gave a sly smile to Sai.

"You know what they say about redheads. The get fre-he-he-kay~" Naruto sang the last part out which caused Sakura to burst of laughing. They were currently sitting out on a terrace looking over a training field when the doors leading into the field opened. Itachi, Deidara, Sasori, and Kisame walked into the open area and prepared to spar.

"So it appears that their training session is now. They sure do look delectable," Sai mused, staring appreciatively at the male group.

Sakura refused to look behind her.

The clash of metal and the singe of chakra filling the air did not make her want to join.

Not at all.

Not. At. _All_.

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One look wouldn't hurt.

Sakura turned to see lean muscular males glimmering with sweat. Even from this distance, she could tell they had dedicated their lives to the art of combat. She forced herself to tear her eyes away before she said something improper. Not that the boys beside her would've minded. Naruto was standing now, bouncing on the soles of his feet in excitement. She knew he wanted to spar as much as she, but knew it would be rude to join in without an invitation to.

"Sakura," the blonde started.

"No."

"But Sakura," he whined, his eyes pleading with hers.

"Do you want to die?"

"If by that, you mean do I want to die from happiness after I spar with some of the most powerful demons in the nations, then yes."

"Naruto," she warned.

"Oh come on. I've been dying to spar in the past days and I know you have too! It's not like they're going to do anything to us!"

Naruto knew he had her by the way she looked at the sparring men in envy.

"It's an uneven number." She countered weakly.

"That's why you're joining," he retorted.

She glared at him for a moment before sighing and getting up. Naruto grinned and fist-pumped the air in victory.

"Yosh! Let's show these bastards what we're made of!"

Breathing out heavily, Sakura jumped from the balcony to land in the middle of the field with Naruto, gathering chakra into her hands in midair. She let out deep breath she slammed her fist on the ground.

The floor broke away and then all hell broke loose.

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Well that was intense. We got some character development! Hells yeah! Oh, and if you haven't noticed it already, but was inspired by Animal by Neon Trees when I wrote this a while back. The song really embodies the story so check it out man!

Reviews are gladly welcomed~


	4. Chapter 4

Wow! I got alot of feedback! I never thought this story was all that good, and never posted it up because i thought it sucked. But I guess I was wrong! THANK YOU FOR WHO LIKED THIS MERE STORY!

All I own is a laptop and a wild imagination that gets me into mischief and misadventures.

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CHAPTER FOUR: NO I WON'T SLEEP TONIGHT

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It was chaos. With debris flying everywhere, it was hard to make heads or tails of things. Shouts of alarm went all around but it was too late. Once her fist collided with the ground, she flash stepped towards Sasori and sent him flying with a side kick to the ribs. They had to make the best of the element of surprise otherwise their asses would be handed to them.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed as he conjured up clones to attack Deidara. While the clones kept the blonde busy, Naruto made a beeline towards the water demon.

"I'll be right behind you!" she shouted back.

Naruto and Sakura ran at full speed, going straight for Kisame. Naruto lunged into the air and effectively tackled the man while Sakura kicked and punched in rapid succession. Once Naruto gave her an opening, she pushed her chakra inside Kisame's body and effectively paralyzed his massive body.

She almost thought that this was too easy.

Almost.

Then that damn demon had to join in.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, conjured up a kunai and abruptly turned around to block a katana from piercing her skin. Itachi smirked at the woman; Sakura glared and sent a pulse of hot chakra through the kunai and into Itachi's katana. He immediately let go of the burning sword. Once he did so, she instantly gave a swift uppercut to his jaw, but was dodged by him.

He was fast, she'll give him that.

She blocked a shower of kunai from the front and barely had time to dodge Itachi's fist to her right and ran towards the man. She used her running momentum to roll unto the ground at the last minute, just as Itachi lashed out. She slapped the ground, causing tremors that made the group be unbalance. Without wasting any time, Sakura jumped up on her feet and lunged at Itachi, tackling him to the ground. He grunted at the impact and flipped their positions in midair so Sakura could take most of the fall. She brought up her knee to kick him in the stomach only to find he was gone and was a few feet away.

"You're very skilled," he commented, his eyes traveling among her figure.

"You're not so bad yourself," she shot back coolly and was about to say something caustic when she heard a pained yell and turned to see Naruto punching Deidara into the next world.

Two down, two to go.

Sakura went into a back flip, just in time to avoid the incoming swing of a…puppet? What the hell? She shook her head and concentrated on the task at hand. In response, she sent a flying kick towards the redhead as he tried to pull his weapon back; her foot connected with the side of his neck and sent him stumbling. She would leave Sasori up to Naruto. Sakura turned to face her opponent once more. Parrying his attacks, she made the best of her slimmer frame, countering him with lightning fast taijutsu. She knew he was holding back on her for her sake, but that just pissed her off even more. Naruto seemed to be enjoying himself, glee evident in his eye, as he attacked Sasori ruthlessly. Sakura herself was allowing all the stress of being here wash away as she spared the Uchiha.

Then things turned for the worse.

As if in slow motion, she stared as Itachi lifted two of his fingers to his mouth and aimed his attack to the unsuspecting fox demon. He was going to use that blasted fire element on Naruto. He knew he was her weakness and used it against her. Sakura moved, willing her legs to make it. She slammed against the blonde, pinning him to the ground just as a scorching flame flew above their heads. Rolling immediately, she conjured up three kunai and threw it in Itachi's direction and stood. Without given her any chance, he sent another blazing flame her way.

When the next flame flew her way, she ducked and lunged towards a large rock to shelter her from the flames. But the man was too fast. In a blink of an eye, he threw another large flame right in front of her. She skidded to a stop just in time, sent chakra to her legs and jumped. She gracefully twisted her body from receiving that much damage from the blaze. The flame burned a hole through her shirt over and scorched her right shoulder blade. Even so, she instantly knew it wasn't too serious a burn; her movements had been fast enough to prevent any severe damage. Once she landed, she immediately lifted her arms to block a kick from Itachi, making her skid several feet away. She was about to send another series of punches towards the man when she heard Naruto in pain. She automatically turned her attention towards the sound.

Her distraction cost her, though. While she was concentrating on the fox demon, Itachi appeared right in front of her. She saw him lift his hand to perform his jutsu in slow motion, knowing very well his flame would reduce her to embers at so short a distance. Instinct took over as she took a deep breath and sent a low kick flying his way.

The flame left his hand in the same instant her chakra-charged foot collided with his ribs causing him to grimace in pain. Sakura leaned away as much as she could as the blaze came her way. Her body was not meant to bend that way at all she thought as she scowled in discomfort. It missed Sakura's nose by mere inches and she sighed in relief that the intense flames didn't harm her. Still in that awkward position, she knew that kick had done crucial damage to him.

'He can't move now' she thought smugly.

And just when she thought it was over and she had won, the bastard decides to rain on her parade and knock her out by hitting her pressure point.

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When she finally woke, she was met with large blue eyes.

"Hey Sasori, she's awake!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Welcome back to the living," Sai commented as he painted.

"Well, well," the redhead said as he walked towards the woman, a scroll in hand. "That was an interesting show you two put out there today. You in particularly Sakura. It seems you have made an impression on our esteemed king."

Sakura lifted her body into a sitting position and scrunched her eyebrows up at Sasori. "What do you mean?"

"I heard some of the servants of Itachi talking," the Doyen confided in a bored tone. "It seems he was impressed with the way you fought."

Emerald eyes blinked owlishly. "He was?"

Sasori gave a small smile at the look on her face. "Yes. He was stunned at how you stood your ground. There are very few people have the strength to do such a thing."

"But he was holding back," she protested with a hint of bitterness, her lip jutting out in a pout.

"He was," the redhead agreed," but even then, if you were any lesser being, you would have perished. You just seem to get more interesting by the minute, my dear blossom."

Feeling the flow of blood increasing in her cheeks, she tried to cover up the blush behind her hands. She groaned in frustration before throwing her head back in exasperation. "Kami knows the last thing I want is any special attention from the man. I just wanted to beat the living crap out of him."

Sasori looked at her with a knowing look. "You can say whatever you like but it's evident you've have charmed our High King and once he is interested in something, he will pursue until he has unlocked its mystery. And you, my dear, just happens to be one hell of a puzzle to figure out. You appear human yet supernatural. It's all very intriguing."

"Kuso," she cursed and looked at the redhead," what am I supposed to do?"

He merely shrugged and replied with a sly smile. "There's nothing to do. He always gets what he wants and you're no different."

After her chat with Sasori, Sakura made her way towards Itachi's chambers. She let out a heavy sigh and opened the doors. From what she learned, she was just another object for the High King to figure out, which made her unsettled. She let her eyes travel up to Itachi who was bent over some papers at his desk, hand in his long locks. He looked up at her entrance and gave her a look she dared not to decipher.

"About time," Itachi said with a hint of annoyance laced in his smooth tone. "I was just thinking I would have to go out and search for you."

Sakura sighed in frustration. "I'm glad to see you too."

"Sarcasm doesn't become you," he replied sardonically and then proceeded to look her over and smirked," you look terrible."

"I wonder why," she said to him, crossing the room to flop down on her futon. "It's your fault for attacking me."

Itachi merely smirked wickedly and replied innocently. "How's your shoulder?"

Sakura rubbed over the sore pressure point and flipped him off.

He chuckled and went back to his paperwork.

She tried to sleep, she really did, but she could not keep her eyes closed to save her life. After tossing and turning, Sakura decided if she couldn't sleep then why not bug the hell out of Itachi. Sakura stood finally and made her way towards the unsuspecting man.

"Itachi-sama-"

"Itachi" he interrupted.

"Itachi-sama, I'm curious. What are you working on?"

She heard a sigh and grinned smugly.

"It's a file from the assassinations case. I'm reviewing the evidence left from the scenes."

"I see, so are you trying to track down the killer by via weapon?"

He paused at the statement and then proceeded to tell her in a cool tone.

"Yes and no. The blade itself is not important, but its signature is. Each demon sword leaves a chakra signature of its owner. It's a matter of unlocking the signature from what was gathered at the scenes now," he replied as he read the file.

Sakura hummed in approval and stared at the man before her. He was a beautiful creature, she mused silently, with his raven locks, smooth skin, and exotic eyes. Her eyes traveled down to his back, watching the muscles beneath his shirt shift as he flipped a page. She could imagine her fingers sinking into them as he-

She snapped out of her haze and nearly gasped in horror. She did not just think that. Why the hell would she ever want to have any sexual acts with him? He was an arrogant bastard!

He was horrible to her…with his beautiful eyes and devilish looks…

_Oh no_.

No.

No.

No.

No.

_No_.

She had to get out of his-_delicious_- sight before she thought about-_all the things she could do to that-_

She brusquely walked back into her room and slammed her door shut.

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After that incident, Sakura decided she needed a schedule. Something that would help her stay away from the High King without making it too obvious that she was avoiding him. For a week, she constructed the perfect routine. Sakura would wake up and head to have breakfast over at Sasori's chambers, ignoring the High King completely. Afterwards, she'd join Naruto, if he wasn't trying to tear Deidara to shreds and if she couldn't find either of her teammates, she would head over to the Healers quarters for a visit. Konan welcomed her happily and chatted away the hours as they made all sorts of medicines.

Sakura would later have dinner in with her teammates as they gathered around in Sasori's rooms since Deidara hated Naruto and the High King's chambers were off limits until she got whatever she had with the man dissolved. It was usually a loud affair as shared tales of the team's childhood with Sasori who, in return, told some interesting stories about the Doyens. It was easily her favorite time of the day; the last moments she could enjoy before the confusion descended upon her.

The evening was warm and she had been standing out on the balcony when he came in after taking his nightly bath. She heard him getting dressed and then, surprisingly, joined her outside. He looked strained, his shoulders tense. He let out a small sigh and that's when she decided to play nice and made sure her thoughts were in check. Having become an expert of emotionless men in the years of befriending Sai and Sasuke, Sakura knew it was up to her to strike up any kind of dialogue. She cleared her throat.

"So how long have you been in Rain?" she asked. It was a neutral topic, one that wouldn't cause any bloodshed over. At least, that's what she hoped for.

"Long enough," he replied bluntly.

Sakura sighed in frustration. Well then, she would just have to try something else.

"Do you like being here?"

"Do you like being annoying?"

"Well, excuse me," she snapped and silently cursed herself for her harsh reply. She was supposed to be civil, not kill him.

"There is nothing to be excused for. Your behavior is only natural," Itachi said," after all, you are a pest by nature."

Screw civility, he's a bastard.

She turned flaming emerald eyes towards him. "Listen here, I'm just trying to strike up friendly conversation since I see you're stressed out."

"I didn't know you cared for me so much."

"You jerk!" Sakura exclaimed, digging her fingernails into her palms in order to stop herself from delivering a well-deserved blow to his jaw.

Itachi chuckled darkly before moving back towards the chambers.

"By the way," he said casually over his shoulder. "Even though I believe you're better company when your mouth is shut, I appreciate the gesture."

With that, Itachi left an owl-eyed Sakura staring in amazement at the place where he had been standing. He just thanked her…in his own bastardly sort of way. Standing up quickly, she decided she shouldn't let the opportunity pass.

"How is the assassination case coming along?" she asked, leaning her shoulder against the door frame.

"Why? Are volunteering yourself as bait to trap the killer? Because if you are, I have no qualms with that."

"Bastard!"

Itachi couldn't help chuckle with derisive amusement. Emerald flames glared at him as his crimson eyes lifted to look at her. He graced her again with that contemptuous smirk she had already learned to despise. He put on a serious face as he finally replied.

"There's been another assassination. It was one of the council members this time, which is causing alarm. My people are scared and it's my job as High King to find the culprit for the safety of them."

"That's very honorable of you," she commented at length.

"It's my duty and I fulfill it gladly," he replied, making his way towards his futon. "But thank you for the praise. I know you can't hide your obvious appreciation of me."

"Appreciation for your insensitivity, more likely," the pink haired girl responded sarcastically. "It's amazing how someone with your lack of people skills has been able to survive this long."

He laughed quietly at her taunt but didn't reply. Settling into his futon, he crossed his arms behind his head and looked at her. From where she was standing by the balcony, Sakura suddenly thought that was how he would look while seducing a woman. His lips twisted into a sensual smirk and crimson eyes glinting with slyness.

She nearly lost her composure and blushed at the thought. Sakura briskly walked across the room, slammed the door behind her and dove onto her futon. It was obvious he was experienced, with the way his eyes looked…Sakura shook her head furiously. He was purposely messing with her mind. He was definitely not trying to seduce her. She was just imagining it.

And she'd be damned if she ever came to him.

Or so she thought.

She snapped her eyed closed and scowled.

She needed rest, not some man.

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"_Let us go, you snake filth!" she yelled furiously. It had been two days since they're capture; Sasuke was unusually quiet in a corner of their cell, his small frame shivering from dampness. She was screaming through the bars, clawing at anything that decided to touch her or Sasuke. She needed to be strong._

_For him. _

_The snake demon saw that and decided it was time for the little girl with pink hair to learn her lesson._

_He used him. Used Sasuke as a tool to subdue the fierce child beside him. Sasuke screamed in pain as Orochimaru dug his fangs into his flesh. Rivulets of blood poured from the wound and Sakura couldn't help but stare. They had her chained, watching in horror as he retracted his mouth from his shoulder and symbols sprouted from the wound. Sasuke let out another pained yell as the marks continued to mare his skin. _

"_You see what you do when you misbehave, Cherry-chan? You see?"_

She woke with a start. The wails were still echoing in her mind. Sakura clutched her head and clenched her eyes shut at the sound. Of all the times, she just had to have that dream tonight, when that jerk could see her weakness. She stared out night as rain hit the window panes fiercely, lightening lighting up the midnight sky in an eerie glow. Even though she escaped that godforsaken place, that monster still haunted her. Ever since that day, night terrors seemed to wrack her mind. She lost a lot of sleep because of it. Suddenly, the wind howled against the window, causing the noise to sound like a pained scream.

It reminded her of his scream.

She sat up on her futon, a scared look on her face. The sound was pushing unwanted experiences to the front of her brain. Sakura whimpered slightly as another image of that place flashed behind her eyelids. She raised her blanket up to her chin and tried to stop trembling.

"Will you stop moving around, some people have jobs in the morning," said a rumbling voice to her right.

She whipped her head in its direction and perceived the outline of Itachi giving her a sleepy glare as he ran his hand through his hair. In the darkness, she couldn't see his eyes clearly but she had no doubt they were mocking her. She merely nodded her head and willed her body to relax, but being startled awake by that otherworldly nightmare had always haunted her. The screams of a tortured soul elicited when death approached after Orochimaru ripped them opened. Her mind went back there; the anguished cries people in that god-awful place and how she could do nothing to save them, witnessing the snake demon torturing other children such as them for his sick pleasure and experiments, it was just too much for her. She had been witness to such wails of despair more times than she would have liked over the months there, how she tried to protect Sasuke from witnessing such atrocities.

She always fought the guards tooth and nail from ever touching him like they did to other pretty prisoners and made deals with the snake demon in in order to keep Sasuke from experiencing what he went through that one night again. Experiment after experiment, she endured it for the sake of him. She seen so many deaths there and the knowledge of one's demise did things to a person. Their wails of anguish and pain filled the room each night.

"Why did I have to remember it out of all times?" Sakura whispered to herself. She covered her ears with her hands in a useless attempt to keep out the sound of the echoing screams. Itachi looked at her for a few more moments before throwing back his blanket and crossing the distance between them.

"When I was a child, a mere babe of five, I was kidnapped for ransom. My abductors wanted the money and could have cared less about whether I ate or what state I was in," he said as he knelt down beside her futon, enveloping her in an embrace. "I was held captive for a week and during that time, I was a witness to them torturing a young woman. She was stabbed repeatedly and raped; her screams were burned into my memory and once I arrived, I was a stranger to my family. I used to wake up screaming from the memory and Shisui would come rushing into my room. He used to hug me until I stop trembling."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked softly.

He gave her a wry smile, a troubled look sweeping his features briefly before disappearing once more. "Because you look like me when I was five."

The pink haired girl stared at him with something close to awe at his openness. This was the first time he had shared anything so personal about himself and showed he wasn't as emotionless than she first thought.

"It just a bad memory I have on occasion," she said, trying to save face. "But the nightmare always brought me back to that that place." A haunted look crossed her eyes briefly.

"What place?"

"A place in Sound," she replied in a soft tone and paused. She wasn't so sure if she wanted to tell him, but he shared with her didn't he? Swallowing her pride, she continued, "When I was younger, Sasuke and I were captured by that snake demon you saw in my memory. We spent months in that place. I tried to shield Sasuke from the horror as much as I could, but I could never protect him from those sounds at night. One day, Orochimaru marked him with a cursed seal. I'll never forget the pained screams he let out. He was only eight," she said fiercely, unshed tears glistening in her eyes," he shouldn't have been a victim to that."

"You were a mere child as well, you protected him as best as you could."

"And it wasn't enough. He went back to him; the cursed seal compelled him to do so," she replied regretfully, "He tried for weeks to stop himself from going, but the mark caused him pain."

Sakura was on a verge of crying, she could tell from the burning sensation behind her eyes and the way her lips trembled from suppressed emotion. Itachi, being ever intuitive, gently grabbed her face between his hands and looked her straight in the eye.

"You are not at fault for what occurred."

And just like that, her walls crumbled. She clutched onto him and burrowed her head in the crook of his neck and wept. Itachi didn't say anything, and just let her cry her heart out. He was not going to lie, he felt slightly out of place. He's never comforted a person before, let alone an emotional woman. Then he recalled how his mother used to soothe him when he was injured by rubbing his back and sing to him in a soft tone. With that in mind, Itachi awkwardly rubbed her back in comfort and started to hum a lullaby his mother used to lull him to sleep. Sakura froze at his gestures in shock. Was he…was he trying to comfort her?

"What are you doing?" she questioned.

"You want me to stop?" he snapped back, a tint of pink dusting his cheeks.

Sakura gaped, tears glistening from the corners of her eyes. The cold-hearted bastard just blushed. Catching onto her train of thought, Itachi fixed her with a glare and turned his head away from her in embarrassment. She smiled at his childish antics. Well, Mr. High and Mighty seems to be full of surprises tonight, doesn't he? She shook her head and snuggled against his chest once more, closing her eyes in peace. Even though he was a jerk to her most of the time, lying here in his arms seemed…right. The vibrations from his chest and the rhythmic beat of his heart lulled her into a peaceful slumber, but before she did, she whispered out a thank you.

She didn't see him look at her with gentle eyes, nor did she hear him whispered back in a soft tone, "No, thank you."

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Well, well, well, looks like they're geting closer. I'm tweaking the other chapter, so I'll try to post it in like two weeks or so, maybe earlier if you guys behave...:D Just kidding.

Reviews are appreciated and greatly welcomed


	5. Chapter 5

Hey Guys! Wow, I got alot of positive feed back and I am truly grateful for it. THANK YOU! Since you guys are so behaved, I decided to give you this little chapeter! I am editing my other chapters, but you guys deseve it! It's not long, but I hope you lovely readers enjoy it!

I only own a laptop and an imagination that cause me to embark on misadventures

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CHAPTER FIVE: OH, OH I WANT SOME MORE

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"Maggie scoffed. "Denial will not save you when Cupid's arrow find its mark."  
"If i see Cupid anywhere in the vicinity, I'm ripping his chubby little arms off." Vanda yanked the door open to Romatech."  
― Kerrelyn Sparks, _Forbidden Nights with a Vampire_

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Sakura froze as soon as she was conscious. With bleary eyes, she stared at Itachi's sleeping form. Why in the holy hell was she embracing this asshole? And he was embracing back! Then memories from the previous night and she had to stop herself from blushing in embarrassment. She told him! Why did she tell him all that? And then she had to cry like a little girl in front of him.

Oh, the mortification.

She let out a soft sigh and gathered her wits. How was she going to disentangle herself without alerting him? A thought struck her then: just what the hell was he doing here anyway? The sun was already shining brightly outside. Usually, he was out the door with the first rays of the dawn to some meetings and to do other kingly things. He would not have slept in just because of this. He would have shoved her awake and left.

She felt him shift and automatically went into sleep mode.

But Fate always loved to make a mockery of her.

"I can hear you heartbeat," came his sleep filled voice," I know you're awake. I suggest you move your neck from near my mouth or I'll take that as an invitation to bite you."

She let out a squeak and scrabbled off the man, who was staring at her with crimson eyes glinting deviously while his lips were curled up in a wicked grin. It shouldn't be possible for a man who had slept in an awkward position to look so good the next morning. Sakura's hand went up to her neck while her other hand pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"Like hell I would let you bite me!"

"I was joking girl," he replied with a sigh and then a glint of mischievousness showed in his eyes. He went on to stand and stretched out his muscles, which, Sakura couldn't help but stare at. He turned around and said with a cool tone, "Besides if I was hungry, I would look for a female with more," he then proceeded to survey her with bored eyes, "assets." He stared at her chest when he said the last part.

She threw a vase at him.

Itachi chuckled softly as he dodged the object aimed at his head and when she finally was able to compose herself once more, Sakura decided to ask what was he doing here at this hour in day.

"Am I not allowed to spend time in my very own room now?" he scoffed.

Sakura huffed at the statement, refusing to acknowledge the truth behind his words.

"If you must know, this is my day off," he replied, matching her haughty attitude with every word just to spite her.

"I see," she said, slightly miffed, "So kings even have a day off? Well, then pray tell why are you still here? I thought I irritated you."

"Stop speaking such nonsense, girl. I wish to bring you somewhere," Itachi continued, "I think you would rather enjoy it."

Sakura gave him a suspicious look at his words and he went on to reply with an unruffled tone. "I don't mean anything by it. I promise I shall keep my hands to myself if that will make you come with me. " She was feeling caged and the thought of being with him alone sent her blood rushing. Trying to save face she lifted her chin and mustered a condescending tone.

"It can't be as boring as being here, lead the way." Itachi had to suppress a smile at her reply and led her out the room.

"Where are we going?"

He gave her a devilish smirk that did things to her body she wouldn't admit to.

"You shall see."

"This is amazing!" Sakura exclaimed in delight. Itachi smirked smugly at her reaction, which she deftly ignored.

They walked through many hallways before stopping in front of great black double doors and when Itachi opened them, Sakura couldn't help but gasp. Piles upon piles of books were stacked in shelves. Large windows showed breathtaking sights of the land. It was heaven.

"I told you would enjoy it."

"But why are we here? Don't you have a day off?"

"I come here in my free time. It's quiet and doesn't talk back."

"There are so many books, you must have many connections to get them," she said in awe.

"Actually this is my personal collection."

"You mean, this all yours," she said incredulously.

"I did say my, didn't I?" he retorted sarcastically. "When you get to live to be as old as I, you find that you have idle time in your hands. Before I was High King, I was selfish, reckless. But being in charge of the well fare of others changed me for the better, I believe."

"If you think this is better, I would hate to meet you twenty years ago."

He gave her a small smile that sent a wave of heat rushing through her body. Her heart was pounding frantically and she was sure he could hear it. Oh hell, if she stays close him, she'll die from a heart attack. Trying to save face she used to most nonchalant voice she could pull off and announced she was going to read and not to bother her, damn it.

But she couldn't focus on the book. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't do it. She must have read the same line over fifty times already. She was sure the thing was interesting, but her mind kept straying to that jerk and then to this morning. Remembering their exchange during the previous early hours, Sakura was sure he would've taken the first chance to tease her about her vulnerable behavior, throwing in some kind of insult along the way.

In reality, it had been quite the opposite. Itachi hadn't even mentioned the episode even though he'd had plenty of opportunity to do so. This made Sakura pause. Recalling his strange conduct during last night, she simply couldn't fit it in with all she knew of him. After remembering the genuine concern she'd witnessed on his face, her only option was that he was slowly opening up to her.

Maybe Sasori had been right about him after all.

Sakura scoffed. Yeah right.

Maybe Naruto would stop eating ramen.

Their routine changed after that. It should've surprised Sakura if she sat down and thought about it. But as things stood, she accepted the change without any complaint. Somehow, it simply felt natural. She helped him on the assassination case when she could be of use and he returned the favor with allowing her access to his personal library whenever she wanted. Then one night, she went to the kitchens and prepared them green tea and Dango as a form of friendship. She had asked Sasori about what he liked to drink and eat, and the redhead happily indulged her with such information all the while with a knowing glint in his eyes that made her want to hit him.

It was expected for Itachi to be suspicious at first. He walked in his chambers to find her with a cup and a plate of his favorite sweet handed out to him and immediately stepped back. He accused her of having some dastardly scheme planned out, ready to attack him. When she guaranteed him this wasn't the circumstance, he then accused her with wanting to poison him.

The pink haired girl had felt a vein burst in her forehead.

They had quarreled back and forth over the food until she threatened to stab him with the Dango sticks. Sakura took a seat to eat her own cup and sweets and ignored him. The demon had stood observing her through pointed eyes for a few moments before joining her. He ate his Dango rapidly in awkward silence.

Then the bastard had the nerve to complain after the snack that the Dango tasted bland and the tea was too strong. She threw the cup at him and yelled that if it was so horrible then why the hell he ate it.

"Because you made it," he said bluntly.

This left her in utter shock, her mouth gaping like a carp and widened eyes. He gave her a look she couldn't figure out, or rather, didn't want to figure out and then gave her a silent thank you and left the room with her still stunned.

He had just admitted her liked her. Not in those words though. No, Itachi was a man of few words she learned with her stay with him. In his own awkward way, Itachi showed he has some sort of feelings for her. Her heart wanted to believe they were romantic feelings but her mind immediately squashed that idea. I mean, what would the High King want with her? She's just a freak of a human! No, he had friendly feeling with her and that was that.

Sakura hasn't been this much in denial in a long time.

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There you go! I can't tell you when I'm going to post another chapter, but I CAN tell you that it gets juicy and there's enough drama to sink the Titanic twice over.

I encourage you greatly to review and tell me what you think. I escpecially love the long ones becuase they explain what I do right and what I can work on.

Until next time, Adios~


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